December 9, 2024
Last week, a federal court in Texas issued a nationwide preliminary injunction to the 2021 Corporate Transparency Act’s beneficial ownership information (BOI) reporting requirement, ruling it unconstitutional. The requirement for beneficial owners of small businesses and corporations to report information to the U.S. Treasury by January 1, 2025, is paused for the time being. Unless a higher court appeals this decision – which is a possibility before January 1st – companies are not required to report their information to FinCEN, a bureau of the U.S. Treasury.
Background on the BOI Reporting Requirement
The Corporate Transparency Act, enacted in 2021, is intended to strengthen enforcement of illicit financial crimes such as money laundering. As a result, the Treasury Department wrote requirements for beneficial owners of certain businesses to report their information to FinCEN.
According to the U.S. Treasury, a beneficial owner is defined as someone who has substantial control over a reporting company or owns or controls at least 25 percent of the ownership interests of a reporting company. Entities such as a limited liability company (LLC) and businesses with less than 20 full-time employees with gross revenue less than $5 million in the United States, are likely to be reporting companies.
Exemptions do exist for certain companies. There are 23 industries that qualify for an exemption. Entities that are exempt include tax-exempt organizations, banks and credit unions, and most sole proprietorships, to name a few.
As written, failure to comply could result in significant penalties to the tune of $500 daily, or criminal penalties including imprisonment and a fine of up to $10,000.
Federal
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National Law Review – Injunction Suspends Enforcement of Corporate Transparency Act, Texas Court Rules
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